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Individual community projects can be analysed whilst still in the pre-project or planning phase with the help of Project Check. In this way, the potential for improvement identified by Project Check can be implemented efficiently. Since the effort required for evaluating individual projects is significantly less than an Unternehmen.V complete evaluation, sustainable development processes can be integrated into everyday community life with Project Check.

Three-level procedure
Project Check includes the following three working steps:

• preparation phase with the definition of the project which is to be evaluated, creation of an evaluation group with between 7 and 30 participants and the organisation of a meeting 
• a meeting, approximately 2 hours in length, of the evaluation group with external moderation; evaluation of the expected and unexpected effects of the project; potential areas of improvement are explored and concrete recommendations for the project leadership are formulated; results are summarised graphically in the effectiveness profile
• Documentation and summing up of the results with the collection of all information and the drawing up of a short appraisal of the evaluation

 
Implement Project Check in the planning phase
The project was compiled under contract by the Office of Future Affairs from "Kairos – Impact Research and Development". Community projects, already in the planning phases, could already be analysed for long-term developments. The first implementations showed that Project Check could be especially helpful when applied at an early project stage. However it can also be used as an accompanying tool for analysing impacts or to check the success factors after project completion.

The analysis and the evaluation groups
In a meeting of the appraisal group, it is important to have professional balance and as heterogenic a group as possible. This choice guarantees an integral view of the valued project. The examination of the project itself is an intuitive and qualitative process, which is quantified in order to maintain foundations for discussions and decisions. By sharing individual results, the cumulative result of the group creates the basis of the method. 

Impact profile and recommendations for project management
The summarised analysis of possible impacts is the basis for the findings of potential improvements and, based on the appraisal meeting, flows into the formulation of a projection management recommendation.

External moderation is important
External moderation is a decisive factor. It is important to guarantee that participants critically analyse their own experiences and orientate themselves according to their own independent evaluation rather than merely following the opinions expressed by the group. Discussions take place in small groups and in plenary form, the results are summarised graphically in the effectiveness profile.

For more information see: www.unternehmen21.net (link to German page)